[Hider=Anthony Arden] [center][h2][color=7ea7d8]Anthony Arden[/color][/h2][/center] [center][b]21, Male [h3][color=7ea7d8]Appearance[/color][/h3][/b][/center] Messy dark hair partly covers a plain and dour face framed by square glasses. His frame is that of relatively average build, though he's relatively tall, sitting around 6ft2in. He's in shape, but not exactly fit, active but not the type to deliberately work out. He is usually seen in a beat-up old bomber jacket, plain colored button-ups, a belt, jeans, and worn-out sneakers, a style he rarely deviates from or accessorizes on top of. [center][h2][b][color=7ea7d8]Personality[/color][/b][/h2][/center] Anthony is a strange young man. A first impression might reveal him to be terse, cold, potentially even, mechanical, manipulative, and calculating. Others might describe him instead as insightful and friendly, though a tad too fond of rambling for his own good. He would agree with both evaluations, they're both aspects of the complicated system of factors that lead him to be who he is. That's how he views most things, in terms of elements that add up into wholes, with each part having a function towards the purpose of the thing, and a reason they were put there in the first place. People follow that rule the same as his bike, or his decks, just in a more roundabout fashion. He deeply enjoys the process of learning how things worth, and training his intuition on further data such that he can improve his understanding of the world. Knowledge is very much power to Anthony. He's a good-natured kid, ultimately, not yet losing his positivity despite the loss of his father and his mother's distance, though those elements of his personality are often guarded from most that he meets. He reserves that positive mood for his close friends and the fellow duelists he takes under his wing. [center][h2][b][color=7ea7d8]Background[/color][/b][/h2][/center] [hider=background] Anthony was the second child of Mari and Tony Arden, a successful scientist and a "professional odd-jobber." He always found himself in the shadow of the people around him: his mother's scientific achievements, his sister Gwen being something of an academic savant, and even his father being somewhat successful at high level Duel Monsters tournaments. Tony never held down a job for much longer than a few months, but he was at least an ever-present force in Anthony's youth, teaching both children how to play the game he seemed to love so much, as well as generally being a source of positive advice. The kids practically grew up between home, science labs, and card shops so that their parents could avoid leaving them alone. It was a fairly loving childhood, as far as Anthony was concerned. On Anthony's 14th birthday, his parents got into an argument, as far as he knew for the first time, and by the end of the hellish day were already planning the divorce. The assets were split by the end of the week, and it was decided Anthony would stay with his mother, and Gwen demanded to go with their father. Being 16, they let her. Anthony protested that he wanted to stay with all of them, but his Father was fairly clear that he needed to stay with her, there was no choice. Anthony loved his mother, of course, and with her help focused more heavily on his academics. He only got back into Duel Monsters after Gwen started calling him again after about a year of near silence, essentially threatening him into playing again, and sending him several of their dad's old decks. The calls became nightly, discussing strategies and new releases. She sometimes even sent packages of cards, with him always beaming with excitement at what new tools he had to play around with. He eventually started doing what his sister and father had for him at the local card shops. He played for fun, and started teaching newer kids how to play. It was his little sanctuary, the card game, a reminder of the good times, and he wished to spread that joy to as many others as possible, and maybe win a few games thanks to the analytical eye that had been sort of trained into him. His life was finally steady again, at least for another few years. Anthony eventually started college, and did his best to balance his hobbies with constant classes, but he was wearing a bit thin. His father, who rarely talked on the phone, mostly letting Gwen do the talking, hadn't been responding to calls, and as the weeks wore on, there was rarely a sign of Gwen either. Eventually she broke the silence and told him that their father was missing. No one had seen him for weeks. Anthony's mother seemed to already know, seeming dour when he went to her lab to talk to her. She sat and consoled him for a while, seeming rather in need of consolation herself. When the conversation fell to complete silence, she handed him a small bag, keys to the former family home, his dad's old motorcycle's key, the key to a safe of some sort, and some cash. His mother specifically warned that he should only use the safe key if he absolutely has to. Only as a last resort. After that, he was escorted away from the premises, and has barely heard from his mother outside of short, impersonal phone calls. With Gwen's calls also reduced to nearly zero, Anthony was suddenly and completely alone. That was a year and a half ago, and ever since he's been slowly fixing up the old motorcycle, and wandering through the haunting remnants of that old house. In the basement, a large dark-green safe sits, almost taunting him. He tries to avoid thinking about it. He hasn't spent much time dueling in the last few months, but is now finally hoping to jump back into it, to find that sanctuary once again. [/hider] [center][h2][b][color=7ea7d8]Deck List[/color][/b][/h2][/center] [hider=deck list] https://www.duelingbook.com/deck?id=8362387 1x M-X-Saber Brightsoul* 3x Rescue Cat 3x Summoner Monk 3x X-Saber Airbellum 2x X-Saber Pashuul 2x XX-Saber Boggart Knight 3x XX-Saber Darksoul 3x XX-Saber Faultroll 2x XX-Saber Fullhelmknight 2x Book of Moon 1x Change of Heart 2x Gottoms' Second Call 1x Harpie's Feather Duster 1x Monster Reborn 1x Saber Reflection 1x Snatch Steal 2x Twin Twisters 3x Gottoms' Emergency Call 1x Reinforce Truth 2x Saber Hole 1x Titanocider 1x Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier 1x Clear Wing Synchro Dragon 1x Colossal Fighter 1x Crimson Blader 1x Goyo Chaser 1x Goyo Guardian 1x Naturia Barkion 1x Naturia Beast 1x Trishula Dragon of the Ice Barrier 1x Stardust Dragon 1x X-Saber Souza 1x X-Saber Urbellum 1x XX-Saber Gottoms 2x XX-Saber Hyunlei [Hider=Custom Card]M-X-Saber Brightsoul EARTH Level 2 [Beast/Tuner/Effect] You can treat this as level 1 or 3 for the Synchro or XYZ summon of an "X-Saber" monster. If this card is sent to the graveyard: Add 1 "Saber," or "Gottoms" card from your deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "M-X-Saber Brightsoul" once per turn. 1000/1000 [/hider] [/hider] [/hider]